US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India, during which he traveled to Jamnagar rather than the capital New Delhi on October 20-21, reflects the Trump administration’s search for energy ahead of the midterm elections. The BBC cites the Iran war as the reason.
The refinery’s capacity is quite high. The Jamnagar refinery, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s company Reliance, processes approximately 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, an amount that corresponds to roughly 1.5% of global refining capacity.
According to Michael Kugelman of the Atlantic Council, the visit had three objectives:
- Reducing India’s dependence on Russian oil
- Encouraging the purchase of Venezuelan and US oil
- Making energy cooperation part of the trade deal
The data reveals this dependence. India received 37% of Russian crude oil exports in the December 2022-July 2026 period, and Reliance was among the companies that processed it.
Rubio met with Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar and his BAE counterpart in Mumbai, then sat down with Ambani in Jamnagar on October 21. The Jamnagar meeting took place on October 21. The Trump administration is seeking Reliance’s support for the refinery project at the Port of Brownsville in Texas. Although Jaishankar and Trump say the trade deal is close to completion, experts argue that this does not mean it will be signed anytime soon.
Why it matters
The fact that the visit was made to a refinery city rather than the capital shows that energy has taken precedence over diplomatic protocol in US-India relations. For the Trump administration, which wants to secure oil supplies ahead of the midterm elections, India is both a major buyer and a country that hosts one of the most important processors of Russian crude oil; this positions companies like Reliance between the expectations of the two sides. The Brownsville project on the agenda, meanwhile, demonstrates that the contacts extend beyond oil purchases to mutual investment. The gap between statements that the trade deal is close to completion and experts’ cautious assessment leaves it uncertain when the signature will come. Whether India will truly abandon Russian oil remains the key question awaiting an answer.
Background
The US is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 65 news stories featuring this name in the last 90 days; the most recent is dated October 24, 2026.